1st FF Draft of 2013

Thursday, August 15, 2013
First fantasy football draft of 2013!
Well today I couldn’t wait any longer, and decided to do the first draft of the year! What a draft it turned out to be, getting ridiculous value in the early rounds and nailing some good picks late. I’ll go over some of my thoughts as I explain how the draft unfolded. Figured I’d throw this into a blog since our FF site is not up yet! Sit back enjoy, feel free to try and nitpick me!

This was a 12 team PPR snake draft, and I had the 9th overall selection.

Pick 1: I was really hoping that Calvin Johnson would fall to me in this spot, and than land a top 5 WR with the next pick as well. This did not happen as CJ went one pick ahead of me. Luckily tho Lesean McCoy fell down the boards and that was an easy pick for me at the 9 spot! Shady McCoy is my #4 RB in ppr, and the only Philadelphia Eagle I tend to target.
Pick 2: As I stated before I wanted to get 2 top 5 WR’s in the first 2 rounds so this pick was a no brainier as well, as Brandon Marshall fell back to me in round 2. I would have considered Matt Forte or Dez Bryant here as well but both were gone before my pick. Either way I love this pick and always have been very fond of Mr. B Marsh! Marc Trestman’s offense is going to be a good thing for Marshall this year. He could honestly push Marshall into Calvin Johnson territory, who everyone thinks is the sole #1 WR.
Pick 3: This is where it gets good! I had Darren Sproles and Reggie Bush at the top of my Que. Sproles went a few picks ahead of me, and some how Bush feel to me in the latter part of the 3rd! WOW this should not happen in a PPR draft! Standard I could see it, but never PPR. I have R. Bush and D. Sproles 11 and 12 on my RB rankings. Both guys will catch the ball a ton in there uptempo offenses this year. I know there is some who will argue injury concerns with Bush, but I address that with a latter handcuff pick!
Pick 4: When it’s good, it’s great! Lamar Miller come on down! Could not believe I just started this draft out landing this RB core and still got Marshall. Miller is normally a early 3rd round pick and some who are high on him think about him in the late 2nd. This kid is talented and he is the only real talented back in Miami. Sorry Daniel Thomas but I have never bought into you! This was another Walmart Super Saver, yep that’s the line I’m going with! Who can beat there prices, I mean come on its friggen Walmart lol.
Pick 5: Here is a pick that you will either love or hate. I did not like the tier of WR’s left because they flew off the board much faster than a normal draft would entail. So I decided to go with Vernon Davis. He is my 3rd TE on the board and dam near my 2nd. Jason Witten had already gone a round earlier and I really believe late 5th round for Davis is very good value. I really like the rapport that he has worked on with Kaepernick, and really think he is the #1 target in that offense with Crabtree injured.
Pick 6: This pick I struggled with. I ended up going with Tavon Austin and his upside he would provide to this already very solid team. The reason it was such a hard pick was again the WR depth left. My normal guys I target in this spot where all gone! Cecil Shorts, James Jones and a few others gone before round 6! So I began debating Austin, Mike Wallace, and Desean Jackson. I really don’t like WR’s who change teams and the camp reports of Wallace have not exactly been glowing for him. Jackson I do like, but having McCoy already, I didn’t feel that a double dip on that team was the wisest of selections. So I reached my decision and went with Austin to be my WR2.
Pick 7: This pick was a reach, no way around it! But here’s why: WR depth and I had 3 QB’s in my que with only one team behind me that needed one. So I decided on the best WR available and he is a guy who I do like a lot this year. Josh Gordon, yes I know he is suspended for 2 weeks but it does not matter to me. I won’t be needing to start him week 1 or 2 and he is very good depth for me. I think this guy is a stud WR waiting to really break out this year, and he has the QB to get him the deep ball. I’m usually targeting him in the 9th but this will do.
Pick 8: The QB’s I had in my que as I just mentioned where, RGIII, Russel Wilson and Tony Romo. The team who needed a QB decided to pick Tony Romo. That actually made this a really tough choice for me because I really like both RGIII and Wilson. I do have Griffin ranked higher than Wilson and ultiamtely I decided to stick to my rankings. I think His upside and ceiling are higher than Wilson’s. Selecting RGIII does however make my team vulnerable if he is to re-injure himself. So I must grab a solid back up QB earlier than usual.
Pick 9: This to me was another great value pick. Mark Ingram was my 9th round selection. This guy has had a great camp and is healthy for the first time in his short NFL career. Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints have continued to say, they are going to be dedicated to the run this year. That can only bode well for the recent Heisman Trophy winner!
Pick 10: Here is my, may I be the first to say stud back up QB! Yea I am that high on Andy Dalton. If you don’t believe in the Red Rifle than that’s fine by me. I will continue to grab this guy in every draft! He had a solid first year, a much improved 2nd year, and his 3rd year will be top 10 worthy! The Cincinnati Bengals have done nothing but give this guy more weapons to an already potent offense. They went out and drafted Giovanni Bernard, and Tyler Eifert both who will make big impacts to this offense. They already have A.J. Green, Jermaine Gresham, Mahamed Sanu, and sleeper alert Dane Sanzenbacher! Dalton will produce at a high level this year and I love having him as a back up QB.
Pick 11: Went with the upside of Ryan Broyles. This guy not only set the all-time NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision record for career receptions, but he was also twice an All-American. Did I mention he is on a team with Matthew Stafford who throws the ball enough to lose an arm?
Pick 12: This was the handcuff pick, also considered a reach but in my opinion a needed one. Joique Bell is the handcuff to Reggie Bush and it helps that I like him. He’s a lot like Bush in a sense and will step right if an injury occurs.
Pick 13: UGH I missed my Bengals DST! Yea I know I’m high on the Bengals this year, and at 33-1 to win the Superbowl, I’m all over that!! lol anyways, I decided to go with a back up TE here one who did not have the same bye as Davis. I like Jordan Cameron as a great value upside pick here. I think in the Chud/Norval scheme he could be a top 10 fantasy TE.
Pick 14: Nothing much to say here. Took the best available DST left in New England.
Pick 15: Again blah blah stupid kicker.
Pick 16: Was a last round debate, between a few guys and ultimately went with Dujuan Harris. I like Eddie Lacy a lot, and as a die hard Packer fan I hop he stays healthy. Reality being that he has proven not be I like Dujuan Harris here. It’s funny but he is still being said to be the #1RB for Green Bay, but I know that’s just Motivation for Lacy.

He retired from the NFL. He gave away most of his stuff. Now, former Tampa Bay Bucs offensive lineman Joe Hawley is traveling around the country in a tricked-out van, trying to fill the void that football left behind.